Although I was tempted by many recipes in the book, the one I kept turning back to was for these morning bean burgers. Not that you are limited to eating them in the morning--I made the full batch and these patties will end up as lunch, dinner and snacks too. Fabulously fiber-packed, they are a healthier alternative to a sausage muffin but just as satisfying.

No time in the morning? Assembling them ahead and cooking them up fresh is always best for that crispy outside but, if that won't work for you, cooking them up the night before and getting them ready to go also works well. Put a cooked and cooled patty on a toasted muffin with a slice of cheese and any thing else you want on them (I suggest baby spinach, guacamole and maybe a dash of hot sauce), then wrap it in wax-paper and pop in the microwave for about a minute. You are out the door with a tasty & filling healthy meal!

Once ready to cook and assemble your melts, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large heavy-bottomed, lidded skillet over medium heat. Add the patties and cook 3-4 minutes on each side, applying pressure to the top of the patties to flatten once you have a cooked side facing up. Note that you may need to work in batches so as not to overcrowd your pan, so you may need to refresh your oil between batches.

Once patties are crisp on the outside and cooked through, top each with a slice of cheese, place the lid on the pan and steam just 30 to 60 seconds to melt the cheese. Remove each patty melt to a toasted English muffin bun and serve immediately.

*Note: Meagan says, "These patties can be made in advance. I will often make the patty mixture on a Sunday and then fry them up for breakfasts throughout the week. If you form the patties in advance, you simple need to separate them with parchment paper so that they don't stick to each other. Store in the refrigerator until ready to cook and serve".

Notes/Results: These are excellent bean patties--crispy on the outside, perfectly tender and creamy on the inside and full of flavor. Speaking of that flavor, I was concerned about the amount of black pepper listed in the recipes--2 tablespoons. I am a black pepper fan but that seems like a massive amount to me. I emailed Meagan just to be sure and she was wonderful enough to send me a quick reply saying that she likes to season her patties pretty aggressively due to the lack of flavor in pinto beans but, she always encourages everyone to season food to their own palates. My little asthma lungs that cough at really strong black pepper ;-) led me to start with 1 teaspoon and tasting the mix as I went, I ended up with 2 teaspoons total of black pepper, keeping all the other spices as written. I really liked the flavor--they are cumin forward--with 2 tablespoons of it in the mix but, I loves me some cumin so it worked for me. Between the garlic, onion, kick of jalapeno and the spices these were well-seasoned in my book--but of course you should adapt them to your own taste buds. In order to boost them even more nutritionally, I chose to put them on whole wheat English muffins and add a layer of baby spinach. I also topped my plated one with a bit of guacamole--extra yum. (I thought it might be too messy for the "portable" ones.) Easy to prepare, satisfying and oh-so-good, this is definitely a keeper recipe for me.

This post is part of The New Southwest Cookbook Spotlight sponsored by Hippocrene and hosted at girlichef.

Come back next week for a final recipe, my review and achance to win your own copy of The New Southwest!

I'm tickled that we chose the same recipe, Deb! Like you I questioned the amount of black pepper and in the end chose to use 1 tablespoon (which was good). I like that you added spinach and guacamole to yours. I think those are both good add on's.

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Originally from the beautiful but rainy Pacific Northwest, I have been living in beautiful and (mostly) sunny Hawaii for the past 15 years. Foodie and Certified Health Coach--I love all things related to food and cooking. I especially like making healthy food that tastes great.

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